Kepa Arrizabalaga: Five unknown facts about the most expensive goalkeeper

In a transfer window where Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to Juventus after nine years of association with Real Madrid grabbed all the attention, a certain 23-year-old Kepa Arrizabalaga’s £71 million move from Athletic Bilbao to Chelsea stunned every other spectator. Liverpool had just broken the world record by smashing £67m for Alisson Becker. And despite playing just 54 games over the course of two seasons for Bilbao, Chelsea decided to act quick in purchasing Kepa’s release clause since Courtois refused to meet with Sarri as he had his mind set on a move to Real Madrid.

That being done, Kepa became the most expensive goalkeeper. As suggested by many, Kepa is known for his brilliant reflexes and for his better presence of mind. So while his playing style remains a known equity, there are facts that most of the Chelsea fans are unaware of. Think no more, as here we give you five such mesmerising facts about the most expensive goalkeeper of the world.

Once played as outfield player

Born in Ondarroa, a fishing village of Spain”s Basque country, Kepa joined Bilbao’s academy just some days before his 10th birthday. Spotted by former striker Jose María Bengoetxea, Kepa was initially deemed as ‘small in relation to other children’ but developed his skills in no time.
Thanks to his brilliant footwork, Kepa was once used as an outfield player for the team’s U-14 unit thanks to some gruelling injury issues. The result? Well, he scored two goals in that game.

Used to hunt birds

Besides catching footballs, Kepa developed a rare hobby with his father of hunting goldfinches before training them to sing. Rare, eh?
The most expensive goalkeeper named his birds Oker, Rocky and Raikkonen and even competed in Songbirds Championship in Vizcaya. And yes, he won the title in 2008 and 2010.
“Since he was very young he has helped his father clean the cages and pick up the goldfinches in the bush,” said his mother.
Kepa eventually stopped competing in the aforementioned competition, all down to his footballing commitments.

First first coach recommended him to Real

Back during the January transfer window, Real Madrid – then under Zinedine Zidane – were digging deep in acquiring a new goalkeeper who could potentially replace Keylor Navas at the club. And for that to happen, Kepa was targetted as the one.
A fee of around £18 million was confirmed and the player, on his part, even completed his medical, only for Zidane to reject the deal as he didn’t want a keeper midway through the campaign.
But do you know who told Real to bid for Kepa? It was the stopper’s first coach, Luis Llopis. Llopis, who is now a goalkeeping coach at Real Sociedad, was the one who first trained Kepa at Athletic’s training base.

International honours

23-year-old Kepa has represented Spain at every level starting from their U-18 unit. His impressive showings earned him a call from the U-19 team for the UEFA European Championship in 2012. The youngster shone in the semi-final and went on to save penalties from Samuel Umtiti and Kondogbia as his team earned a place in the final before eventually being crowned as the champions.
His big break came in March 2017 when he was called from the senior team and made his debut against Costa Rica in Spain’s 5-0 rout in Malaga.
He was also named in Spain’s 32-man squad for the FIFA World Cup.

Had a couple of loan spells

Kepa has earned the royalty of being the most expensive goalkeeper through extreme hard work. His first call from the senior Athletic squad came in 2012 when Marcelo Bielsa was in charge. He, however, still remained their third choice and for some first-team experience, he spent the 2014/15 as well as the 2015/16 season on loan to Ponferradina and Real Valladolid respectively.
Soon after his return, he was included in the first team and before being their first choice.